Ad from environmental groups praising Iowa Rep. Bruce Braley (D)
In response to the Koch brothers' manic spending spree, two major groups of Democratic allies are launching their own counter-attacks. The Senate Majority PAC is
preparing to shell out $3 million to help Democrats in Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, and North Carolina, nearly as much as the $3.6 million the group had previously spent all cycle. Around $1 million is targeted for the Tarheel State; the rest will each get $500,000.
The only ad we have so far is from Colorado, where an earlier report indicated a much smaller buy. The spot lambastes the now-notorious Americans for Prosperity cookie-cutter commercial that's aired in over half a dozen races. A narrator invites viewers to "take a closer" look at those ads, explaining that the woman featured in them is "an actress," promoted by "insurance companies and out-of-state billionaires." These same people are supporting GOP Rep. Cory Gardner because he wans to "end Medicare's guarantee, giving billions in profits" to the insurance industry.
Meanwhile, a coalition of environmental groups that includes the Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense Fund is spending $5 million to oppose the Kochs, who after all made their fortune in the energy industry. Half will go to an 11-state field program while half will be spent on TV ads in four states: North Carolina, Iowa, Michigan, and Maine. Wait a minute, Maine? Yeah, annoyingly, the greens are trying to demonstrate some bipartisan cred by supporting Republican Sen. Susan Collins in addition to the three Democrats they're backing, but if they're going to waste their money like this, at least it's not on a competitive race.
In any event, you can view all the ads here, and unlike the Kochs', they aren't one-size-fits-all. Most are actually job-centric: Collins is praised for "confronting climate change that threatens our water" as footage of lobstermen rolls; Iowa Rep. Bruce Braley for "passing the bipartisan farm bill" and "boosting advanced bio-fuel and wind-power technologies"; and Michigan Rep. Gary Peters for fighting "for the auto rescue" and "investments in fuel efficiency." The spot on behalf of North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan is more explicitly environmental in focus, trashing attacks from "oil industry billionaires" and thanking Hagan for "holding corporate polluters accountable."